johnny1488

Well those 2 things dont exactly add up, do they. You either do what you normally do, or you dont. Pulling the rears more cause you are going downwind, its not the extra weight, you're pulling your rears more! Are things more sensitive with more weight and faster speeds. absolutely. Does it mean the wing has to pop up? I'm calling shenanigans on this one. I saw Jay pop up a bit at the last pond swoop he was at here at The Ranch. He just went too heavy on the rears. People going faster had no problem staying on the water. Popping up allows you to go farther than swooping flat over the ground does. This might have been discoverd by accident, but its has been used on purpose. As to the original thought, keeping swoopers in the 5 ft course would have taken some weights out of play in distance either way, right? Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

I jumped a 120 loaded at about 2.0 and could do 3 360's in one direction and then start in the other direction. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

I dont think its "bad", I just prefer the propacking method. I like the idea of the canopy unfolding rather than unrolling. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

When the new website is finished, psycho packing will be gone. Icarus will be recommending pro packing on all main canopies. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

Come on, polygon crew canopies come standard with retractable pilot chutes. Everyone knows that! Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

I personally loved the Icarus 330 I jumped this year and am trying to sell the owner of the school a 365 that is more my size. After that I would list the Sigma, the A2 and the EZ last, as that is the remainder of what I have jumped. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

I put my hands on my students upper arms during opening (not hard) so they can not accidentally grab anything or put there hands where I dont want them. When the canopy is done inflating I tap them and begin talking to them. They usually dont notice. I was tought to "contain and buffer" the student. Meaning not letting them anywhere that would put them in harms way or anywhere where I didnt know they were going to be 2 steps before. I have also been instructed on how to deal with the elderly and para/quad passangers by holding their legs back with mine and their forehead so that in the case of a hard opening, their head does not fly foreward and their legs dont fly up, both of which could cause extreme discomfort and/or bodily injury. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

Or do you mean "wasnt intentional"? Give me all your secrets!!! Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

Your explanation of line dump is excellent except i think a lot of people have come to call it bag dump to keep people from thinking stowless bags would create harder opening. And if this were true about reserve bag dumps being such a problem, would RWS hav found evidence of this in their testing of the skyhook rsl system? I mean a fully inflated main canopy spinning at a high rate of speed is going to pull more force on a freebag than a p/c in the relative wind, right? Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

The D-bag is on correctly. Make sure the link is 1/4 past hand tight. Dont want to lose it I also recommend a soft link or a silicone bumber over the link. The lines do appear to be Vectran. They are going to appear a tannish wheat color when new and greyish as they get older. Definetly have a rigger look at it before you jump to put you at ease. Here is some info about lines from the Icarus website WWW.ICARUSCANOPIES.AERO Spectra: Spectra line has a limited life and will generally need replacing any where from 300-600 jumps for 500lb line and 500-1000 jumps for 725lb line. Note: your canopy may need re-lining sooner as a result of being out of trim (refer above). Vectran: Vectran has become a popular choice due to its superior dimensional integrity. In other words, they won't shrink or distort nearly as much as will Spectra. As a result your canopy will retain better openings and flight characteristics for the duration of the line sets life. NOTE: Vectran does not have as much abrasion resistance as Spectra, and the lines will "fuzz out" sooner than Spectra It is recommended that you check line wear regularly. In particular, check out the lower control lines; they wear out fastest. Once again we recommend a line set replacement anywhere between 300 and 600 jumps but due to the variables involved, we recommend that you pay close attention to line wear and if in doubt at least replace your lower control lines regularly. The life of your lines will depend on several factors like your weight, the cleanliness of your packing environment, the number of lines (7-Cell or 9-Cell), how well you look after them and the condition of your slider grommets. Linesets should be monitored for wear and trim and retrimmed or replaced as you would a set of tires on a car. The things to look out for are trims, wear spots, snags and worn stitching. Often wear spots can appear quite bad but still retain much of their strength (such as wear by Velcro) and sometimes a line can appear in quite good condition and be weakened considerably (often underneath a fingertrap). A simple test is to squeeze the line between your thumb and finger and slide it along, if the line or wear spot gets thinner it is more than likely weakened. Other common wear spots are the lower brake lines and the corner lines where they meet the connector links. You can monitor the condition of your lines easily while packing, about every 50 jumps have a closer look, If you are unsure of something check with your rigger. One of the best things you can do to improve the life of your lines is to use soft links and monitor the condition of your slider grommets If your canopy is equipped with brake set loops rather than a cats-eye configuration, check them periodically for wear. These finger-trapped loops are especially susceptible to wear and, if not in top shape, can result in premature brake release. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

Because maybe someone prefers B but has a hard time with it on a new canopy. Personally I dont like and dont recommend psycho packing. But I also say it is more important for a pack job to be neat than the method I say. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

If this person was a student, are they really going to know the difference between a 3 way RW dive done safely and this hybrid? I would imagine this jump was engineered strictly for the photo-op. Anything that further endangers the safety of A STUDENT ie non-skydiver needs to be tremendously pre-thought out. No one is saying dont do anything uber-dangerous in skydiving. Do whatever the fuck you want. Go and fuckin bounce on video tape if you want. Go fuckin track into your ex-girlfriends car while shes at work. But dont endanger an ignorant student by putting them in a postion more dangerous than they have to be for a photo. Are you a tandem instructor? Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

Where (location) was it stolen from? I dont know how easy or feasable it is, but I know of one jumper who found all his gear at a local crack house. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

I think it's safe to say that some people were using aditional weight in conjunction with "popping up" to increase their swoop length. How would you have felt if say, the distance event rules were changed so that the jumpers body had to stay within the 5 foot gate/course. I think this also would have taken some of the advantage of extra weight out without limiting jumpers choices to make gear selections as they saw fit. Would that seem more reasonable? And Sonic is training this year and we should all be watching him. Although I think I got him beat! Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

when the closing loop is too long, the grommets of the flaps are no longer on top of one another. They are spread out. Picture the loop S-ing around one grommet to another. When the loop is cut and tension is released, the loop binds the grommets and keeps the P/C from opening the flaps. This occurs from VERY sloppy rigging and having the loop WAY to long. If you follow the manufacturers recommendations for loop length, even with poor rigging, I think this can be avoided. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

I'm glad someone finally did it. Sonic and I were talking about this when the article in Skydiving came out months ago but never got around to trying it. This is why I wasn't a fan of the Mirage Mod. I know why they did it but it was strictly to protect themselves from poor rigging. I think ANY container that has the cutter below the reserve P/C has the capacity to lock. Do I think the Vector needs a mod? No way. But I didn't think the Mirage needed one either. Excellent work on the project. But if RWS comes out with a Mod I will give you one hell of a purple nurple. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

Sounds like an awesome event. If I was in Cali I'd be there for sure. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

Dont know what that post was but it might say one thing right. A helmet is always a good thing. Wear a brain bucket!!! Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

I think the Crossfire2 is more well rounded canopy than the Katana. Not well rounded as in everyone should jump one. Well rounded as in it doesnt sacrifice on thing to get another. It does everything very well. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

Most of the people I see jumping Katanas use the front risers like a steering wheel. And they hold them to get it to the ground. I never said it was efficient. But it is real. Its not BS. I could do a 270 on a Katana at 1000 feet and get it to the ground. I dont mean lazy dangerous, I mean they can turn at any altitude and get to the ground. I had a freind have this happen to him and was super disappointed in a Velo! He wanted his Katana back. Since then he has refined his setups and remarked on how little he had to do to swoop his Katana. He also said how limiting it was. Pople might not jump the canopies with the lighter front riser pressure because you lose a lot to get it. Front riser pressure isnt everything. Every canopy is designed with certain physical limitations. It's all give and take. I personally think the Katana to steep to compare in overall performance with some other canopies. But people who do a lot of mostly front riser approaches love them. But they dont swoop as far as others on more well rounded canopies. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

How about increasing glide? Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

No but it is only one tool. And to get that tool I feel you sacrifice overall performance. But when a newer swooper can get any turn to the ground regardless of ability of set up skill, it creates "lazyness". Again this is just my personal opinion. Front riser pressure has never meant that much to me. I jump a canopy with probably the highest front riser pressure around. And I would not change that because I love the way the canopy flies. If another canopy could do what this does with lighter, I wouldnt complain, but if it sacrificed preformance, I would. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

When people say it dives more because of the front riser pressure. Just because I cant hold a front riser down as long doesnt mean I cant make a canopy dive. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

Thats why I believe the Crossfire2 has a much broader range. It is not as steep. Anyou can get it to dive just as much. The flare power on the Crossfire2 is amazing. Personally I think the front riser pressure on the Katana is used like a crutch when it comes to learning your approach and diving techniques. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

In ours we put 3 on the bench in the back facing front, one next to the pilot facing rear, 2 (or 3) behind the pilot and 3 next to them, on the floor all facing the tail. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome